Neglecting to Test the Spirits—A Tragedy of Enormous Proportions

By David Dombrowski and the Editors at Lighthouse Trails

From the onset of Lighthouse Trails in 2002, we have endeavored to be connected with the body of believers scattered throughout the world who are very concerned, as we are, with the state of the church today. Many of our readers have told us they feel very alone and even ostracized in witnessing today’s apostasy. We know firsthand how it feels to be labeled troublemakers for having legitimate concerns about what is happening in many churches.

We too have felt disillusioned as we have watched a gradual departure take place from the Word of God. Pulpits throughout the land, many of which formerly proclaimed the biblical Gospel of God’s saving grace through the sacrifice on the Cross, now espouse an assortment of ecumenism, progressivism, New Age, mysticism, wokeism, and a social-justice gospel. It is no wonder that God, in referring to the lukewarm church, warns that He is ready to “spew thee” out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). How much better it would have been if churches and their pastors had stuck with John 3:16!

Many discerning believers now find they have become watchmen on the wall, compelled by God to sound out a clear warning of great seduction in the church. In fact, it appears that God has been calling out believers from various denominations to stand up and be counted among those who refuse to comply with the compromised experience-driven Christianity of today.

On a daily basis now, we witness our very Earth in what seems like birth pangs—be it nuclear threat, extreme weather conditions, earthquakes, diseases, terrorism, unspeakable violence, wars and rumors of war, and basically the destruction of society’s moral grounding taking as victims countless numbers of children and youth. Sadly, most people seem oblivious to what is happening (or may see something is amiss but do not turn to the Lord and His prophetic Word for understanding and guidance). But make no mistake, God is sounding out a warning to fulfill that which He has said He will do.

Even now, while the reality of the Antichrist and a one-world government and unified religion is looming closer all the time, preachers and teachers are sitting at their desks inking out sermons that discredit Bible prophecy.

A Creeping Effect

The changes have been gradual but steady and relentless. Everywhere we turn, embellishments are being added to Christianity as if to improve it. The old ways do not seem to satisfy anymore. A great influx of new teachings and practices have exchanged the God who is depicted in the pages of the Bible with a deity much more palatable to the postmodern (or what some are now calling metamodern) so-called “progressive” mind.

Brennan Manning, the Catholic contemplative mystic, illustrates this when he states in one of his books “the god who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist.”1 This is really a denial of the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. It’s an attitude that is far more common than most realize. Let us step back for a moment to see how this paradigm shift has developed. Such a statement did not come out of the blue, but as Ray Yungen suggests, a “creeping” effect made it all possible.2

Over the years, Christian leaders and pastors have stopped defending the faith and have exchanged the Word of God for things that outwardly appear very spiritual, promising a “quantum leap” into a “new spirituality.” Though we have always witnessed those who deny Christ’s substitutionary death on the Cross, most of this kind of thought and teaching has been kept out of the evangelical/Protestant church. But as the walls of biblical truth were gradually torn down, it is no longer unusual to hear this kind of teaching in Christian colleges and seminaries or in books published by Christian publishers. Much of what we see today began with men who pioneered the way to apostasy, then, like a domino effect, these ideas caught on and accelerated to the unbiblical thoughts and teachings we are seeing in so many Christian circles today.

You may be saying to yourself right now—”I’ve never heard a pastor or Christian leader deny the atonement.” Let’s remember that Satan is the father of deception, and it is his goal to make deception look very much like the real thing. For example, a term often used in describing Jesus in many Christian circles today is “servant leader.” Sounds innocent enough, right? But when Jesus is referred to as the perfect servant leader, it is another way of saying that Jesus was the perfect role model or example of someone who knew how to lay down His life for others. This is true, of course—He continually laid down His life for others; however, today’s “new” spirituality church takes it a step further by saying it is wrong to say that Jesus’ death on the Cross was actually a substitute for sin—yes, he was an example of being a servant as seen in His going to the Cross, but that is all. That is what Brennan Manning was referring to when he said that God would not require blood from His son to pay for the sins of others.

What is interesting about Manning’s quote on the previous page, taken from his 2003 book, Above All, is that it is nearly a word for word rendering of several lines from New Age sympathizer and mystic William Shannon’s 1995 book Silence on Fire.3 This book is the biography of Thomas Merton who possibly had more to do than anyone else in giving mysticism (namely contemplative prayer) that initial push whereby it has now avalanched into the mainline evangelical/Protestant churches. But it all began as a creeping or rippling effect with the initial momentum almost imperceptibly slow.

Over the last few decades, countless pastors and religious leaders across North America have grabbed for their evening reading books written by mystics like Henri Nouwen, hoping to glean something to carry them to the next level of spirituality. Unfortunately, that quantum leap ends in the web of apostasy. As you may know, Henri Nouwen (also a great admirer of Thomas Merton) wrote in a provocative intellectual style that has intrigued many pastors, but what happens when these pastors stumble upon these words:

Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.4 (emphasis added)

Henri Nouwen said these words toward the end of his life after spending years involved with mysticism. And yet, pastors, leaders, and professors are enamored with Nouwen. And on goes that seemingly subtle creeping in of deception, slowly but surely.

Testing the Spirits

If there is one thing we don’t hear much about from today’s Christian leaders and pastors, it is the importance of testing the spirits. The idea comes from the Bible in 1 John 4:1, which states:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

This can relate both to the experiential and the doctrinal. With either, we need to remember that not every experience and not every doctrine is “of God” because indeed there are “many false prophets” in the world and in the church today, and there are many voices that are not from God.

“The Voice of Love”—Is There a Need to Test the Spirits?

The question of whether or not we need to test the spirits gets various answers depending on whom you are talking to and listening to. According to the Catholic mystic Basil Pennington in his classic book Centering Prayer (who, along with Thomas Keating and Thomas Merton, introduced “centering prayer” to the layperson), there is no need to test the spirits when in the state of “silence” induced by practicing contemplative meditation or centering prayer. Pennington stated:

Isn’t there a danger, if we leave off thinking and judging and just be quiet, that we might be opening not to God and his activity but to the activity of the evil spirits? St. John of the Cross brings out in his teaching that when we enter into contemplative prayer, we need have no fear of the deceptions of the Evil One, because he cannot touch us at that level of our being. . . . He cannot himself penetrate into our spiritual being. There is danger, a need for discernment, in active prayer, in which we are using our imagination and feelings, for he can influence these. But in Centering Prayer we ignore these faculties and simply let images and feelings float away. They do not affect our prayer, so the Evil One cannot touch it. We are engaged at a level that the Lord has made his own through grace and baptism. We are out of the Devil’s reach. Only God can penetrate this level of our being. So we are completely safe in contemplative prayer.5

So, in other words, according to Pennington, the enemy can get to us in regular prayer where our minds are actively engaged, but when we enter into the contemplative “sacred space” (i.e., stopping all thought and putting our minds into neutral by repeating a word or phrase or focusing on the breath), we have no danger of being influenced or touched by Satan. What Pennington is proposing is very scary because according to contemplative spirituality leaders (of which there are many today), the objective is to hear God’s voice (Thomas Keating says, “God’s first language is silence,”6 and Brennan Manning calls it “the Voice of Love”7). If we go by Pennington’s advice, we do not need to question this voice of love we hear during contemplative meditation (i.e., it will always be good and always from God).

Sarah Young’s Jesus—The Voice of God?

We know that Sarah Young, the late author of Jesus Calling, was an advocate of contemplative prayer; so did she believe that these “messages” from “Jesus” in Jesus Calling do not need to be tested and are absolutely, without a doubt, from God (as Pennington believes)? Young never says that they do need to be tested. And from what we have observed for several years from church leaders and pastors, they don’t believe her messages from “Jesus” need to be tested either. A list of endorsers compiled by the publisher of her book includes the names of many mainstream evangelical/Christian figures such as: David Jeremiah, Lysa Terkeurst, Max Lucado, Kay Warren, Bart Millard, Lee Strobel, Craig Groeschel, Henry Cloud, Jack Graham, and numerous others.8 Do you recall any of these leaders saying to test the spirit that is in Jesus Calling? We can’t recall such a thing.

Warren B. Smith discusses testing the spirits in his book, “Another Jesus” Calling:

There is no evidence that the spirits are being tested to see if Sarah Young’s best-selling messages are from the true Jesus Christ.

Given that Sarah Young’s “Jesus” is delivering messages that are being read around the world, it is imperative for readers to know if she is really hearing from the true Jesus Christ.

Scripture’s warning to believers to “try the spirits” (1 John 4:1) is nowhere to be found in Jesus Calling. To the contrary, when Sarah Young’s “Jesus” is quoted in Jesus Calling as saying, “You must learn to discern what is My voice and what is not,”9 he gives her some very dangerous counsel. With no mention of 1 Timothy 4:1’s warning about “seducing spirits,” he says, “Ask My Spirit to give you this discernment.”10 But if the “Jesus” that Sarah Young is listening to is not the true Jesus Christ, then this false “Christ” is instructing her to ask his spirit to tell her what is true and what is not. Consequently, instead of testing the spirit, she is asking and trusting the spirit that she should be testing. This can only lead to greater deception and confusion. This counsel by Sarah Young’s “Jesus” cleverly works to prevent the detection of a counterfeit “Jesus,” which obviously plays right into the hands of our spiritual Adversary.11

What Is the Test?

Sometimes we are asked, what is the criterion for deciding whether or not a doctrine or practice is biblical or validates criticism? There is one test that we have used consistently from the inception of Lighthouse Trails. The Book of Proverbs says, “A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1). And again from Proverbs, “Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good (Proverbs 20:23).

It is interesting that Solomon, considered the wisest man who ever lived, placed such emphasis on accurate scales. It is even more amazing that God would call false scales an abomination—amazing only until we realize that God is speaking of the spiritual—not just physical scales here.

So what we are looking for is a spiritual balancing scale—something that will reappear throughout the Bible—through the Old and New Testaments. There is such a scale, a consistent theme, which John refers to in his first epistle:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

Some Bible commentators have believed that John was referring here to a particular sect who denied that Jesus Christ actually came in a human body. If that is all John meant, then this passage is of little relevance to us today because you will scarcely find anyone who does not believe that Jesus as a historical figure was a man who walked the Earth. But the name Jesus Christ in this passage is not a historical term; it is a name loaded with meaning—referring to Jesus as the Messiah, God come in the flesh, our Savior and Redeemer who atoned for our sins. If we look at the context of 1 John 4, we can verify that this is what John is talking about because in it he says, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14). In other words, John is saying here, I am referring to the Jesus I wrote about in my gospel—the Word made flesh who in the beginning was with God and was God (see John chapter 1).

This is the balancing scale we have been looking for. Just as all human history and our blessed hope hinges on what Jesus did on the Cross, so too we can weigh a doctrine or practice by whether or not it agrees with the fact that we are justified by faith alone through the atoning, redemptive work of Christ on the Cross. The question then is, does a particular doctrine or teaching agree with the Gospel the apostles all preached?

With this discerning tool in hand, if you stop to measure all the world’s religions and systems, you will find that all of these are opposed to the Gospel. The natural man will not acknowledge the need for a Savior; consequently all of the world’s belief systems (except biblical Christianity) are works based—believing it is possible to earn our way into Heaven (or some version of eternal life) or to become “Christ-like” through mysticism and “spiritual disciplines” which is the foundation and thrust of Spiritual Formation/contemplative prayer. But the Gospel says it is not possible. John knew all too well the contrariness of the natural man and the world’s belief systems. That is why in the same chapter of his epistle, he offers another test:

[H]e that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6)

In other words, John is saying that when the world rejects you for sharing the Gospel, it is because the Spirit of truth is not in them.

Whichever way you look at it, the Gospel is the fulcrum of our balance in discerning truth from error. When Lighthouse Trails Publishing began, this became, and has always been, our standard of truth, and we are compelled to speak up—because as believers in Christ, we are called to defend the Gospel.
The Gospel is the most precious thing on God’s heart, and it is worthy of our defense and protection. Wouldn’t we, as Christian believers, like to be remembered as men (or women) after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13: 14)? If so, then let’s defend the Gospel.

A Moment of Truth With a Moment of Terror

In a discussion about testing the spirits, it’s definitely worth discussing contemplative pioneer Richard Foster. After all, the objective that drives the contemplative prayer movement is to “hear” the voice of God. Foster had something very interesting to say about demons and contemplative prayer. In a roundabout way, it was a moment of truth for him because we have only heard him say it once. And it seems like a contradiction to Pennington’s advice (even though Foster got it wrong, too, as Roger Oakland explains below):

Proponents of contemplative prayer say the purpose of contemplative prayer is to tune in with God and hear His voice. However, Richard Foster claims that practitioners must use caution. He admits that in contemplative prayer “we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm”12 and that sometimes it is not the realm of God even though it is “supernatural.”13 He admits there are spiritual beings and that a prayer of protection should be said beforehand something to the effect of “All dark and evil spirits must now leave.”14 Where in Scripture do we find such a prayer? Where in witchcraft?

I wonder if all these Christians who now practice contemplative prayer are following Foster’s advice. Whether they are or not, they have put themselves in spiritual harm’s way. Nowhere in Scripture are we required to pray a prayer of protection before we pray. The fact that Foster recognizes contemplative prayer is dangerous and opens the door to the fallen spirit world is very revealing. What is this—praying to the God of the Bible but instead reaching demons? Maybe contemplative prayer should be renamed contemplative terror.

While Foster has repeatedly said that contemplative prayer is for everyone, he contradicts himself when he says it is only for a select group and not for the “novice.”15 He says not everyone is ready and equipped to listen to God’s voice through the “all embracing silence.”16

This is amazing. Foster admits that contemplative prayer is dangerous and will possibly take the participant into demonic realms, but he gives a disclaimer saying not everyone is ready for it. My question is, who is ready, and how will they know they are ready? What about all the young people in the emergent church (aka progressive) movement? Are they ready? Or are they going into demonic altered states of consciousness completely unaware? Given Foster’s admission of the danger, he does great damage when he contradicts himself and says, “We should all, without shame, enroll in the school of contemplative prayer.”17

Foster’s implication that some contemplative prayer is safe is terribly mistaken. No contemplative prayer is biblical or safe—even the most mature of the Christian mystical leaders proved susceptible to its demonic pull. Thomas Merton, at the end of his life, said he wanted to be the best Buddhist he could be. Henri Nouwen, at the end of his life, said all paths lead to God. This was the spiritual “fruit” of their lives after years of practicing mystical prayer.

[In relation to mysticism and contemplative prayer], the real question is whether or not the realm of the silence is God’s realm or Satan’s (i.e., light or darkness). The Bible tells us that Satan is very deceptive, and what can often look good is not good at all:

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).18

Regarding Foster’s “prayer of protection,” Mike Oppenheimer states:

Asking God to protect us as we enter into a place He does not ever tell us to go is testing God. Not a good position to put oneself in considering the ramifications.19

Oppenheimer makes a good point. And sad to say, given the fact that much of today’s Christianity has become immersed in that place Richard Foster calls them to; in essence, the church is testing God (which we are not to do) but not testing the spirits (as the Bible instructs us to do). Again, scary—as well as tragic.

Living Inside a Bubble

If only pastors and church leaders realized the great responsibility they have in helping to watch over and protect the sheep. When we first began Lighthouse Trails Publishing, we contacted our pastor at that time, trying to encourage him to warn his congregation of the apostasy that was beginning to creep into the church back then. His reply was that he lives inside a bubble and consequently sees no need to warn his congregation about anything as long as he keeps expounding the Word to them. Our reply to him was “you may be living in a bubble, but your congregation does not.” The question is this: if it is not the pastor’s job to warn his congregation of impending spiritual danger, whose job is it? In the Old Testament, the prophets referred to individuals with this kind of responsibility as watchmen or shepherds. The prophet Zechariah, for example, has much to say about the responsibilities of a shepherd in chapters 10 and 11. In referring to the spiritual condition of his day, he said:

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. (Zechariah 10:2)

Nothing could speak more succinctly of the condition of the church today. We never dreamed in all our years as Christians there would ever be such blatant heresy as we see in the organized Christian church today. Yet this is exactly what is happening. We should be mourning as God surely must be mourning.
If a pastor feels it is not his calling to warn his congregation, remember that the closest New Testament equivalent to the Old Testament watchmen or shepherds is the position of a pastor. There is a time for speaking uplifting encouraging words of peace and comfort—but when ravenous wolves are about, is it not wiser to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2)?

The Cost

The North American church is on borrowed time. We have become weak and spoiled, and it is time to change course, return to a no-compromise faith, the kind many of us had when we first became Christians. To straddle the fence and to exhibit no discernment, as has been the case for way too long, has cost the church dearly and could mean a steady erosion of biblical faith and a fall into the mire of full-blown apostasy.

While there are many forces at work attempting to strip the identity of Jesus of who He is and what He came for, we should never forget that in Him we have a priceless treasure. Isaiah said of Him, “his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Most importantly, Jesus came to redeem us from our sins:

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of Heaven, he used a number of illustrations, one of which should have special significance in our churches today:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)

While the “progressive” (i.e., postmodern*) Christians of today are casting accurate biblical doctrine on the dung heap more than ever, we should be holding on to it as something truly sacred, for it is biblical doctrine that defines our faith and gives to us living water. Hebrews 4:12 tells us:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

No wonder the devil wants to undermine and get rid of the Word of God; and he is attempting to do it through many who call themselves Christians.

Contending for the faith may cost us everything we have, but it is worth it, a jewel far above any price. This life will soon be over, but eternity will last a very long time. Shouldn’t we be putting our treasures in Heaven no matter what it may cost us now?

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:45-46)

Conclusion

In the Old Testament, the Israelites took great pains in transporting the Ark of the Covenant. According to the instructions given by God to Moses (Exodus 25:13-15), the Ark was to be carried by staves (poles) on the shoulders of the children of the Levites (1 Chronicles 15:15). However, in 1 Chronicles 13:7-10, contrary to Moses’ specific instructions, they put the Ark on a cart to be pulled by oxen. But the unexpected happened. When “Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled . . . the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him” (1 Chronicles 13:9-10). The Levites, who were the “pastors” of that day, were careless about following Moses’ instructions; and it ended up costing a life. The Ark of the Covenant was a type and foreshadowing of the Gospel. It was sprinkled with blood to symbolize Christ’s death on the Cross. Today, similar to back then, so many pastors and Christian leaders have become careless about the Gospel. And it has become so evident that the church has been duped into thinking all is well and there is no need to test the spirits and practice discernment. The result of such neglect is truly a tragedy of enormous proportions.

If we love Jesus Christ and His Word, and if we really want to serve Him, now is the time to, by faith, place our lives under the care and guidance of the true Shepherd, leaning on the Scriptures as we exercise discernment. Whatever the cost. We are invited to the wedding feast, ready to meet our Savior, with wicks trimmed and lamps burning. Now is the time to make ready.

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**Keep an eye out for a relatively new term—“metamodern spirituality”—which is beginning to be used to describe those who have moved beyond and ahead of the postmodern /emergent movement.

Endnotes:

1. Brennan Manning, Above All (Brentwood, TN: Integrity Publishers, 2003), pp. 58-59, as quoted from Roger Oakland in Faith Undone, p. 195.
2. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing (Roseburg, OR: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2nd ed. 2006), p. 94.
3. William Shannon, Silence on Fire (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1995 edition), pp. 109-110.
4. Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998 Hardcover edition), p. 51.
5. Basil Pennington, Centering Prayer (Garden City, NY: Image Book edition, 1982) pp. 220-221.
6. Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God (New York, NY: Crossroad, 1994), p. 153.
7. Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1996, Revised Edition), p. 215.
8. Sometime in late 2018 or early 2019, the endorsement page on the Jesus Calling website was removed. Lighthouse Trails editors e-mailed HarperCollins and asked what happened to the endorsement page. We were told it was down temporarily for re-designing but would be put back up. To date, that page is still missing, but we have heard of no Christian leader from the endorsement page who has spoken up warning about Jesus Calling or retracting his or her endorsement. You can find an archived link of this page here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181205214012/https://www.jesuscalling.com/media/endorsements/
9. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, 10th Anniversary Edition (Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson Inc, 2004, 2011, 2014), p. 66.
10. Ibid.
11. Warren B. Smith, “Another Jesus” Calling, 2nd ed. (Mountain Stream Press, 2016), pp. 53-54.
12. Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (San Francisco, CA: Harper,1992, First Edition), p. 157.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid., p. 156.
16. Ibid.
17. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1978 edition), p. 13.
18. Roger Oakland, “Richard Foster’s Contemplative Prayer or Contemplative Terror?” (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/richard-fosters-contemplative-prayer-or-contemplative-terror/); also an extract from Oakland’s book Faith Undone, pp. 99-101.
19. Mike Oppenheimer, “Understanding the Premise of Contemplative” (http://www.letusreason.org/Popteach80.htm).

(photos used on cover from istockphoto.com; used with permission; design by Lighthouse Trails)